Automatic movement of player character in network game

ABSTRACT

A player participating in a network game moves a player character of the player by manipulating a video game apparatus of the player. As the player performs an autopilot operation, the video game apparatus moves the player character as an autopilot PC. A server apparatus manages the game which progresses according to the movement of each character, and transmits progress information of the game to the video game apparatus of each player participating in the network game. The movement of the autopilot PC is decided based on an action log recording the action of the player character responding to the manipulation of the player.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present disclosure relates to subject matter contained in JapanesePatent Application No. 2011-004300, filed on Jan. 12, 2011, thedisclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a network game which progresses with aplurality of players participating in the game, and, more particularly,to a network game which allows characters to move without a characterbeing manipulated by a corresponding player during a period in which theplayer cooperates with other players to progress with the game.

2. Description of the Related Art

The recent advancement on the network technology has made network games(online games) vivid in each of which a plurality of players participateto progress with the game. A system that executes a network gameincludes a server apparatus which is managed by one who runs the networkgame, and client devices of individual players which are connectable tothe server apparatus over a network such as the Internet.

An RPG (Role Playing Game) among the network games progresses asmultiple players participate in the game at the same time so that theirplayer characters cooperate with one another to battle with an opponentcharacter, or the players make their player characters battle with oneanother. Recently, an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online RPG) whichpermits participation of more players is also provided.

In a game system which allows an unspecified number of players toprogress with a same game via no server apparatus but through radiocommunications only with portable game apparatuses, normally, eachplayer performs an operation to progress with the game with a pluralityof players present as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-OpenPublication No. 2007-61253. In a network game system which allows aplurality of players to progress with the same game at the same time,the players are performing operations in on-line at the same time toprogress with the game in the real time.

In a case where a player is progressing with a game with his/her ownclient apparatus (portable game apparatus or the like) connected to anetwork, when the player operating the client apparatus breaks away fromthe game even temporarily, the player character which is moved by theplayer does not make any move at all during that breakaway period. Inthis case, even when the movement of the player character is temporarilystopped, the player characters of other players participating in thenetwork game keep moving and the game itself is progressing. The playercharacter which has stopped moving may give uncomfortable feeling to theother players participating in the game.

Because the other players progress with the game without waiting for theplayer who has broken away from the game while this player is nottemporarily moving the player's own player character, the playercharacters of the other players may move to a different place. As aresult, the breakaway player may not know the locations of the otherplayer characters which have played the game together with the breakawayplayer even if the player moves the player's own player character again.One way to solve the problem is to make the other players wait for theplayer. However, to keep the other players waiting without making anymovement raises another problem.

A player who wants to temporarily break away from a game may worry abouta disadvantage on the player's own player character caused by thebreakaway from the game, and thus may restrain from temporarily breakingaway from the game and keep playing the game. In case of breaking awayfrom a game, a player may temporarily disconnect from the serverapparatus. However, repeating disconnection from the server apparatusand connection thereto is troublesome, and a player who temporarilybreaks away from the game is likely to give sense of mistrust to otherplayers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide anetwork game system or the like which, in a period where a playercharacter does not move based on a manipulation by the correspondingplayer, can permit the player character to move according to theprogress of a game without depending on the manipulation by the player.

To achieve the object, a network game system according to a first aspectof the invention is a network game system including a server apparatus,and a plurality of terminal apparatuses connected to the serverapparatus over a network, wherein each of players who respectively usethe terminal apparatuses manipulates a player's own player character toparticipate in a game provided by the server apparatus.

The server apparatus includes a character movement information receiverthat receives character movement information transmitted from each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses. The server apparatus furtherincludes a character movement state updating unit that updates amovement state of a player character corresponding to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit provided in the server apparatus according to the charactermovement information received by the character movement informationreceiver. The server apparatus further includes a game progressinformation transmitter that transmits, to each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses, game progress information indicating a progressstate of the game according to the movement state of the playercharacter corresponding to the each terminal apparatus and stored in themovement state storage unit.

Each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses includes a game progressinformation receiver that receives the game progress informationtransmitted from the game progress information transmitter. Each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses further includes a game screen displaythat generates a screen according to the game progress informationreceived by the game progress information receiver, and displays thescreen on a display device equipped in the terminal apparatus. Each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses further includes a manual movementinstruction input unit that, as the player who uses the terminalapparatus performs a predetermined operation on an input device equippedin the terminal apparatus, inputs a manual movement instruction formoving the player's own player character. Each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses further includes a manual movement specifying unitthat specifies a movement of the player character of the player usingthe terminal apparatus according to the manual movement instructioninput from manual movement instruction input unit. Each of the pluralityof terminal apparatuses further includes an automatic movementinstruction input unit that, as the player who uses the terminalapparatus performs a specific operation different from the predeterminedoperation on the input device, inputs an automatic movement instructionfor moving the player's own player character regardless of the input ofthe manual movement instruction. Each of the plurality of terminalapparatuses further includes an automatic movement specifying unit thatspecifies a movement of the player character of the player using theterminal apparatus based on the game progress information received bythe game progress information receiver, regardless of the input of themanual movement instruction, until canceling of the automatic movementinstruction since the input of the automatic movement instruction fromthe automatic movement instruction input unit. Each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses further includes a character movement informationtransmitter that generates the character movement information accordingto the movement of the player character of the player specified by themanual movement specifying unit or the automatic movement specifyingunit, and transmits the character movement information to the serverapparatus to be received by the character movement information receiver.

According to the network game system according to the first aspect ofthe invention, the server apparatus manages the progress of the gameaccording to the movements of player characters. A player inputs amanual movement instruction for moving the player's own player characteraccording to the progress of the game. Each terminal apparatus specifiesthe movement of the player character according to the manual movementinstruction, and transmits character movement information according tothe specified movement to the server apparatus. When the player performsa specific operation to input an automatic movement instruction, eachterminal apparatus specifies the movement of the player characterregardless of the manual movement instruction, and transmits charactermovement information according to the specified movement to the serverapparatus.

As character movement information according to the movement of a playercharacter in response to an automatic movement instruction and charactermovement information according to the movement of the player characterin response to a manual movement instruction are transmitted to theserver apparatus in a similar manner, the server apparatus progressesthe game according to the movement of the player character. Accordingly,when a player breaks away from the game, inputting an automatic movementinstruction can permit the player character to take even a movement notbased on a subsequent manipulation by the player according to theprogress state of the game, so that other players do not haveuncomfortable feeling.

Since a player can make the player's own player character make amovement according to the progress state of the game without making amanipulation himself or herself, the player can temporarily break awayfrom the game in play at a desired timing while the game is in progress.Even when the player temporarily breaks away from the game while theplayer is playing the game in cooperation with other players, theplayer's own player character is kept moving by the correspondingterminal apparatus. Accordingly, the game can be made to still progressin cooperation with other players without making the other players waitfor the breakaway player. This can reduce annoyance to other players,thus suppressing the spoiling of the relationship of trust with theother players.

To achieve the object, a network game system according to a secondaspect of the invention is a network game system including a serverapparatus, and a plurality of terminal apparatuses connected to theserver apparatus over a network, wherein each of players whorespectively use the terminal apparatuses manipulates a player's ownplayer character to participate in a game provided by the serverapparatus.

The server apparatus includes a character movement information receiverthat receives character movement information transmitted from each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses. The server apparatus furtherincludes a first character movement state updating unit that updates amovement state of a player character corresponding to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit provided in the server apparatus according to the charactermovement information received by the character movement informationreceiver. The server apparatus further includes an automatic movementinstruction receiver that receives an automatic movement instructiontransmitted from each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses. Theserver apparatus further includes an automatic movement specifying unitthat specifies a movement of the player character of the player using aterminal apparatus corresponding to the automatic movement instructionbased on the movement state of the player character stored in themovement state storage unit, regardless of the reception of thecharacter movement information by the character movement informationreceiver, until canceling of the automatic movement instruction sincethe reception of the automatic movement instruction by the automaticmovement instruction receiver. The server apparatus further includes asecond character movement state updating unit that updates a movementstate of a player character corresponding to each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storage unit accordingto the movement of the player character specified by the automaticmovement specifying unit. The server apparatus further includes a gameprogress information transmitter that transmits, to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses, game progress information indicatinga progress state of the game according to the movement state of theplayer character corresponding to the each terminal apparatus and storedin the movement state storage unit.

Each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses includes a game progressinformation receiver that receives the game progress informationtransmitted from the game progress information transmitter. Each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses further includes a game screen displaythat generates a screen according to the game progress informationreceived by the game progress information receiver, and displays thescreen on a display device equipped in the terminal apparatus. Each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses further includes a manual movementinstruction input unit that, as the player who uses the terminalapparatus performs a predetermined operation on an input device equippedin the terminal apparatus, inputs a manual movement instruction formoving the player's own player character. Each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses further includes a manual movement specifying unitthat specifies a movement of the player character of the player usingthe terminal apparatus according to the manual movement instructioninput from manual movement instruction input unit. Each of the pluralityof terminal apparatuses further includes an automatic movementinstruction input unit that, as the player who uses the terminalapparatus performs a specific operation different from the predeterminedoperation on the input device, inputs an automatic movement instructionfor moving the player's own player character regardless of the input ofthe manual movement instruction. Each of the plurality of terminalapparatuses further includes an automatic movement instructiontransmitter that transmits the automatic movement instruction input fromthe automatic movement instruction input unit to the server apparatus tobe received by the automatic movement instruction receiver.

According to the network game system according to the second aspect ofthe invention, the server apparatus manages the progress of the gameaccording to the movements of player characters. A player inputs amanual movement instruction for moving the player's own player characteraccording to the progress of the game. Each terminal apparatus specifiesthe movement of the player character according to the manual movementinstruction, and transmits character movement information according tothe specified movement to the server apparatus. When the player inputsan automatic movement instruction, the automatic movement instruction istransmitted to the server apparatus, which in turns specifies themovement of the player character according to the progress state of thegame.

As character movement information according to the movement of a playercharacter in response to a manual movement instruction is likewisetransmitted to the server apparatus, and the movement of the playercharacter is specified in the server apparatus in response to theautomatic movement instruction, the game progresses with the playercharacter still participating in the game. Accordingly, when a playerbreaks away from the game, inputting an automatic movement instructioncan permit the player character to take even a movement not based on asubsequent manipulation by the player according to the progress state ofthe game, so that other players do not have uncomfortable feeling.

Since a player can make the player's own player character make amovement according to the progress state of the game without making amanipulation himself or herself, the player can temporarily break awayfrom the game in play at a desired timing while the game is in progress.Even when the player temporarily breaks away from the game while theplayer is playing the game in cooperation with other players, theplayer's own player character is kept moving by the correspondingterminal apparatus. Accordingly, the game can be made to still progressin cooperation with other players without making the other players waitfor the breakaway player. This can reduce annoyance to other players,thus suppressing the spoiling of the relationship of trust with theother players.

When the automatic movement instruction is transmitted to the serverapparatus, the server apparatus can move the player character accordingto the movement specified by the server apparatus itself. During theperiod in which the player character is moved in response to theautomatic movement instruction, the terminal apparatus corresponding tothe automatic movement instruction need not receive character movementinformation associated with the movement of the player character, thusreducing the load associated with the reception of the charactermovement information. The server apparatus can more easily determinewhether the player character is moved in response to a manual movementinstruction or in response to an automatic movement instruction.

To achieve the object, a game apparatus according to a third aspect ofthe invention is a game apparatus connected over a network to a serverapparatus providing a game which progresses with a plurality of playersmanipulating player characters thereof to manipulate the playercharacters of the players.

The game apparatus includes an input device and a display device. Thegame apparatus further includes a game progress information receiverthat receives game progress information transmitted from the serverapparatus and indicating a progress state of the game according to astate of movement of the player character corresponding to each of theplurality of players. The game apparatus further includes a game screendisplay that generates a screen according to the game progressinformation received by the game progress information receiver, anddisplays the screen on the display device of the game apparatus. Thegame apparatus further includes a manual movement instruction inputthat, as the player who uses the game apparatus performs a predeterminedoperation on the input device of the game apparatus, inputs a manualmovement instruction for moving the player's own player character. Thegame apparatus further includes a manual movement specifying unit thatspecifies a movement of the player's own player character according tothe manual movement instruction input from manual movement instructioninput unit. The game apparatus further includes an automatic movementinstruction input unit that, as the player who uses the game apparatusperforms a specific operation different from the predetermined operationon the input device of the game apparatus, inputs an automatic movementinstruction for moving the player's own player character regardless ofthe input of the manual movement instruction. The game apparatus furtherincludes an automatic movement specifying unit that specifies a movementof the player's own player character based on the game progressinformation received by the game progress information receiver,regardless of the input of the manual movement instruction, untilcanceling of the automatic movement instruction since the input of theautomatic movement instruction from the automatic movement instructioninput unit. The game apparatus further includes a character movementinformation transmitter that generates character movement informationfor the server apparatus to generate the game progress information,according to the movement of the player character of the player usingthe game apparatus which is specified by the manual movement specifyingunit, and transmits the generated character movement information to theserver apparatus.

To achieve the object, a server apparatus according to a fourth aspectof the invention is a server apparatus connected to a plurality ofterminal apparatuses over a network, and providing a game in whichplayers respectively using the terminal apparatuses participate bymanipulation of player characters of the players.

The server apparatus includes a character movement information receiverthat receives character movement information transmitted from each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses. The server apparatus furtherincludes a first character movement state updating unit that updates amovement state of a player character corresponding to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit provided in the server apparatus according to the charactermovement information received by the character movement informationreceiver. The server apparatus further includes an automatic movementinstruction receiver that receives an automatic movement instructioninput by each player in a corresponding one of the plurality of terminalapparatuses. The server apparatus further includes an automatic movementspecifying unit that specifies a movement of the player character of theplayer using a terminal apparatus corresponding to the automaticmovement instruction based on the movement state of the player characterstored in the movement state storage unit, regardless of the receptionof the character movement information by the character movementinformation receiver, until canceling of the automatic movementinstruction since the reception of the automatic movement instruction bythe automatic movement instruction receiver. The server apparatusfurther includes a second character movement state updating unit thatupdates a movement state of a player character corresponding to each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit according to the movement of the player character specified by theautomatic movement specifying unit. The server apparatus furtherincludes a game progress information transmitter that transmits, to eachof the plurality of terminal apparatuses, game progress informationindicating a progress state of the game according to the movement stateof the player character corresponding to the each terminal apparatus andstored in the movement state storage unit.

To achieve the object, a recording medium according to a fifth aspect ofthe invention is a computer readable recording medium recording aprogram which is executed by a computer connected over a network to aserver apparatus providing a game which progresses with a plurality ofplayers manipulating player characters thereof to manipulate the playercharacters of the players.

The program allows the computer to function as a game progressinformation receiver that receives game progress information transmittedfrom the server apparatus and indicating a progress state of the gameaccording to a state of movement of the player character correspondingto each of the plurality of players. The program allows the computer tofurther function as a game screen display that generates a screenaccording to the game progress information received by the game progressinformation receiver, and displays the screen on a display deviceequipped in the computer. The program allows the computer to furtherfunction as a manual movement instruction input unit that, as the playerperforms a predetermined operation on an input device equipped in thecomputer, inputs a manual movement instruction for moving the player'sown player character. The program allows the computer to furtherfunction as a manual movement specifying unit that specifies a movementof the player character of the player using the terminal apparatusaccording to the manual movement instruction input from manual movementinstruction input unit. The program allows the computer to furtherfunction as an automatic movement instruction input unit that, as theplayer performs a specific operation different from the predeterminedoperation on an input device equipped in the game apparatus, inputs anautomatic movement instruction for moving the player's own playercharacter regardless of the input of the manual movement instruction.The program allows the computer to further function as an automaticmovement specifying unit that specifies a movement of the playercharacter of the player using the terminal apparatus based on the gameprogress information received by the game progress information receiver,regardless of the input of the manual movement instruction, untilcanceling of the automatic movement instruction since the input of theautomatic movement instruction from the automatic movement instructioninput unit. The program allows the computer to further function as acharacter movement information transmitter that generates charactermovement information for the server apparatus to generate the gameprogress information, according to the movement of the player characterof the player specified by the manual movement specifying unit, andtransmits the generated character movement information to the serverapparatus.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a network gamesystem according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a video gameapparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a serverapparatus shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a player character management table whichis managed by the server apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a registered-character management tablewhich is managed by the server apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

FIG. 4C is a diagram showing an NPC management table which is managed bythe server apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

FIG. 4D is a diagram showing a party management table which is managedby the server apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 3.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of data to be stored in thevideo game apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a routine which is executed by theserver apparatus.

FIG. 7A is a flowchart illustrating a server game progress process inFIG. 6 in detail.

FIG. 7B is a flowchart illustrating client information processing inFIG. 6 in detail.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a routine which is executed by thevideo game apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a game progress input process in FIG.8 in detail.

FIG. 10 is a sequence chart illustrating one example of a processassociated with time-out of an autopilot PC.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of a networksystem where a network game according to this embodiment is played. Asillustrated, the network system includes a plurality of video gameapparatuses 100 connected to a server apparatus 200 over a network 151like the Internet.

In a game which is applied to this network game system, each player whouses the video game apparatus 100 moves his/her own player character(hereinafter referred to as “player's own player character”) on a fieldformed in virtual space (game space) common to all the players. Eachplayer forms a party composed of the player's own player character,player characters which are moved by other players (hereinafter referredto as “other player characters”), and an NPC (Non-Player Character)other than an opponent character. The game progresses party by party.

When the party moves on a field and reaches a predetermined point in theprogress of the game, the party battles with an opponent characterencountered there. The individual player characters belonging to theparty can get an experience value by defeating the opponent character inthe battle. The acquisition of the experience value can allow eachplayer to power up the player's own player character, so that the playercan defeat a stronger opponent character.

As apparent from the above, when the video game apparatus 100 of theplayer is on-line, the player can move the player's own player characterto progress the game. Even in the period where the video game apparatus100 of the player is off-line, the player can move a copy of theplayer's own player character generated based on information on theplayer's own player character immediately before the off-line as an NPC(hereinafter, referred to as “copy NPC”). The game may be progressed bya party composing the video game apparatus 100 of the player, otherplayer characters which are on-line, and the copy NPC. Even if the videogame apparatus 100 of the player is on-line, the player can alsoprogress with the game with a player's own player character which ismoved without being manipulated by the player (hereinafter, referred toas “autopilot PC”) for a given period.

According to the embodiment, the term “on-line” or “on-line state” meansa state in a period from verification of a player using a video gameapparatus 100 through a log-in process to a point when the player usingthe video game apparatus 100 leaves the game through a log-out process.In a period other than this period, even if the video game apparatus 100exchanges some kind of information with the server apparatus 200, forexample, the state is considered “off-line”. For the sake of simplicityof the description of the embodiment, it is premised that communicationsbetween the video game apparatus 100 and the server apparatus 200 arenot disconnected without going through the log-out process.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the video gameapparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the video game apparatus100 has a main body 101 as its main unit. The main body 101 includes acontrol unit 103, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 105, a hard disk drive(HDD) 107, a sound processor 109, a graphics processor 111, a DVD/CD-ROMdrive 113, a communication interface 115, and an interface unit 117, allof which are connected to an internal bus 119.

The sound processor 109 of the main body 101 is connected to a soundoutput device 125 or a speaker, and the graphics processor 111 isconnected to a display device 121 having a display screen 122. Arecording medium (in this embodiment, DVD-ROM or CD-ROM) 131 ismountable in the DVD/CD-ROM drive 113. The communication interface 115is connected to the network 151. A light emitting unit 160, a receptionunit 161, and a memory card 162 are connected to the interface unit 117.

The control unit 103 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and a ROM(Read Only Memory), and executes a program stored in the HDD 107 or onthe recording medium 131 to control the main body 101. The control unit103 includes an internal timer. The RAM 105 is used as a work area forthe control unit 103, and temporarily stores information on thepositions of player characters to be described later, HP (Hit Pointwhich will be described later), etc. The HDD 107 is a storage area forstoring programs and data. When instructed to output sounds by a programwhich is being executed by the control unit 103, the sound processor 109interprets the instruction and outputs sound signals to the sound outputdevice 125.

The graphics processor 111 maps image data in a frame memory 112 (whichis shown outside the graphics processor 111 in FIG. 2 but is actuallyprovided in a RAM included in a chip composing the graphics processor111) in accordance with a drawing instruction output from the controlunit 103, and outputs video signals to display images on the displayscreen 122 of the display device 121. One frame time of images in thevideo signals output from the graphics processor 111 is, for example,1/30 sec. There are two sets of frame memories 112, one for writing andthe other for reading, which are switched from one to the other for eachframe period.

The DVD/CD-ROM drive 113 reads out programs and data from the recordingmedium 131. The communication interface 115 is connected to the network151 to communicate with other computers. The light emitting unit 160includes a plurality of LEDs having light irradiating directionsdifferent from one another, and is located in a position having apredetermined relation with the display device 121 (above or under thedisplay device 121).

The input device 163 includes a light receiver 163 a, an accelerationsensor 163 b, and a transmission unit 163 c. The light receiver 163 areceives light emitted from each LED included in the light emitting unit160. The number and positions of LEDs whose lights can be received bythe light receiver 163 a vary depending on the direction of the inputdevice 163. The acceleration sensor 163 b includes a multi-axisacceleration sensor having three or more axes, and detects theinclination and three-dimensional motion of the input device 163. Theinput device 163 has directional keys and a plurality of operationbuttons.

The transmission unit 163 c transmits an infrared signal according tothe condition of the input device 163, more specifically, an infraredsignal according to the inclination of the input device 163 and thedirection and speed of the motion of the input device 163 which aredetected by the acceleration sensor 163 b, and inputs from thedirectional keys and the operation buttons of the input device 163. Theinfrared signal transmitted from the transmission unit 163 c is receivedby the reception unit 161 as input data from the input device 163.

The input device 163 is used to perform a predetermined process, such asmoving a player character (to be described later) by operating thedirectional keys. The directional keys are also used to move a cursor,and the operation buttons are used input predetermined instructions. Theaction of a player character (to be described later) is sequentiallyselected by the player operating the directional keys, and the selectionis set by operating a specific operation button.

The interface unit 117 outputs input data received by the input unit 161to the RAM 105. The control unit 103 interprets the input data andperforms an arithmetic operation. In response to an instruction from thecontrol unit 103, the interface unit 117 stores data representing theprogress state of the game stored in the RAM 105 in the memory card 162,and reads out data on the game stored in the memory card 162 at the timethe game has been suspended, and transfers the data to the RAM 105.

The programs and data for playing the game on the video game apparatus100 are initially stored in, for example, the recording medium 131. Thedata stored in the recording medium 131 includes graphic data forcreating objects present in the game space (the field formed in the gamespace, the player's own player character, other player characters, theopponent character). The programs and data which are stored in therecording medium 131 are read out by the DVD/CD-ROM drive 113 and areloaded onto the RAM 105 at the time of execution. The control unit 103processes the programs and data loaded onto the RAM 105, outputs adrawing instruction to the graphics processor 111, and outputs a soundoutput instruction to the sound processor 109. Intermediate data whichis produced while the control unit 103 is performing the processing isstored in the RAM 105.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the serverapparatus 200 shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the server apparatus 200 has amain body 201 as its main unit. The main body 201 includes a controlunit 203, a RAM 205, a hard disk drive (HDD) 207, a DVD/CD-ROM drive213, and a communication interface 215, all of which are connected to aninternal bus 219. A recording medium (DVD-ROM or CD-ROM) 231 is mountedin the DVD/CD-ROM drive 213.

The control unit 203 includes a CPU and a ROM, and executes a programstored in the HDD 207 or on the recording medium 231 to control theserver apparatus 200. The control unit 203 includes an internal timerthat measures a current time. The RAM 205 is used as a work area for thecontrol unit 203. The HDD 207 is a storage area for storing programs ordata. The communication interface 215 is connected to the network 151 tocommunicate with each video game apparatus 100.

The programs and data for playing a network game on the server apparatus200 are initially stored in, for example, the recording medium 231, andare installed in the HDD 207 therefrom. The programs and data are readout from the HDD 207 and are loaded onto the RAM 205 at the time ofexecution. The control unit 203 processes the programs and data loadedonto the RAM 205, and progresses with the network game based on datatransmitted from each video game apparatus 100. Intermediate data whichis produced while the control unit 203 is performing the processing isstored in the RAM 205.

The following describes how the network game according to the embodimentprogresses. There are a plurality of player characters which belong to aplurality of parties, a plurality of opponent characters and NPCs otherthan the opponent characters on a field in the network game. The term“NPC” when simply used herein is intended to include a copy NPC, and anNPC different from a copy NPC (hereinafter, referred to as “normalNPC”). Strictly speaking, an opponent character is a non-playercharacter, but is not intended to belong to “NPCs”. A party of playercharacters battles with an opponent character encountered on a field.When the party wins the battle and defeats the opponent character,characters belonging to the party (hereinafter, referred to as “partycharacters” including player characters and NPC) can get an experiencevalue.

The experience value obtained through a battle is uniformly distributedto the individual player characters. Every time a player characterobtains an experience value, the value is added to the previousexperience value of the player character. When the accumulatedexperience value of the player character reaches a predetermined value,the level of the player character is incremented by “1”. When the levelis incremented, various parameters the player character has areincreased (enhanced). When any one of the parameters has a larger valuethan the value of the parameter of an opponent character, the playercharacter is advantageous over the opponent character in a battletherewith.

The predetermined value for the experience value to move up the level isset crescently. The parameter of an opponent character which provides agreater experience value when defeated is set larger than the parameterof an opponent character which provides a smaller experience value whendefeated. That is, the former opponent character is stronger than thelatter one. A player can power up the player's own player character byincreasing the experience value of the player's own player characterthrough repetitive battles, and progresses with the game to defeatstronger opponent characters.

The level of an autopilot PC, like that of a normal player character,also increases when the experience value of the autopilot PC becomes thepredetermined value. However, the level of a copy NPC is not increasedeven when the experience value obtained through a battle becomes thepredetermined value to move up the level. While the experience values ofeach player character, an autopilot PC and a copy NPC increase by anamount which is uniformly distributed to the party characters dependingon the experience value obtained through a battle, the experience valueof a normal NPC does not increase.

A description will now be given of how to generate a copy NPC, how toshift a player character to an autopilot PC, and how to register aplayer character in the network game according to the embodiment. Themovement of a copy NPC is determined by the server apparatus 200, andthe movement of a autopilot PC is determined by a video game apparatus100 (those movements will be described in detail later). The followingprocedures are needed to move a copy NPC or an autopilot PC relating tothe player's own player character in a party composing the player's ownplayer character and other player characters without the player's beingdirectly involved in the movement.

The procedures of generating a copy NPC is described below. The playerin an on-line state moves the player's own player character to one of aplurality of predetermined locations of registration existing on afield. At such a location of registration, the player performs a playercharacter registering operation for registering the player's own playercharacter using the input device 163, so that the player's own playercharacter is registered (hereinafter, referred to as “normalregistration”) after which the video game apparatus 100 manipulated bythe player becomes on-line. At the time of the normal registration, theplayer sets whether the player character registered (hereinafterreferred to as “registered player character”) is to be copied or not.

Provided that the normal registration of the player character is doneand the player has set the registered player character copyable, anotheron-line player can make the copy NPC belong to the player's own party bymoving the player character registered in such a way to a location ofregistration, and performing a player character copying operation usingthe input device 163 during a period from the point when the playerbecomes off-line to the point when the player starts a log-in process(hereinafter referred to as “copy acceptance period”). The number ofcopy NPCs which can be generated by the player character copyingoperation is one per registered player character for one party, and isset not to exceed fifty.

The procedures of shifting a player character to an autopilot PC isdescribed below. The player in an on-line state can make the player'sown player character move as an autopilot PC merely by performing apredetermined operation to autopilot the player's own player character(hereinafter referred to as “autopilot operation”) using the inputdevice 163. Note however that even when the player's own playercharacter composes a party with other player characters, all the playercharacters excluding the player's own player character are not NPCs orautopilot PCs. With a player character moving as an autopilot PC, theplayer can make the autopilot PC move as a player character again byperforming an operation to depress a predetermined button on the inputdevice 163 to cancel the movement (hereinafter referred to as “autopilotcancel operation”).

When the state of an autopilot PC continues for a predetermined period(e.g., 60 minutes) without any input made by the autopilot canceloperation by the player, the video game apparatus 100 that moves theautopilot PC becomes off-line since the point when the predeterminedperiod (hereinafter referred to as “time-out period”) expires, and,after a log-out process, the player character will be registered(hereinafter referred to as “time-out registration”) at the locationwhere the normal registration has been made previously (registrationaccepted location where the immediately previous registration has beenmade). At this time, the player character which has been an autopilot PCcomposing the party as a member is deleted, and a copy NPC associatedwith the player character is generated in place of the player characterafter the time-out, and is moved as a member of the party to which theplayer character has belonged.

When the time-out registration is made, however, there is set a periodduring which a player character copying operation on the registeredplayer character by another player character for a given period (e.g., 2hours) is not accepted (hereinafter referred to as “acceptance disableperiod”). The player's resuming the game in the given period will bedescribed later. When a player who moves the sole one player charactercomposing the party is logged out within the given period, however, thelog-out allows a time-out registered player character to be subject to aplayer character copying operation.

With regard to NPCs, when all the player characters belonging to theparty become off-line, the party itself disappears, and a copy NPC and anormal NPC are deleted while an autopilot PC is registered at a locationwhere the sole player character belonging to the party has becomeoff-line. In this case, the sole player character belonging to the partyis normally registered at the time of performing a log-out process, sothat an autopilot PC is likewise registered in a way similar to thenormal registration (hereinafter referred to as “pseudo normalregistration”). To simplify the description of the embodiment, it isassumed that when log-out is done with a player character, communicationbetween the video game apparatus 100 and the server apparatus 200 willnot be disconnected without a log-out process being carried out throughthe normal registration of the player character which is made by theplayer character registration operation performed by the player.

The following describes a resume position of a player character inresuming the game, and a process of adding up the experience value of acopy NPC. When a player character is registered in the above-describedmanner, and the off-line video game apparatus 100 becomes on-line againto resume the game, the player can resume the game from the locationwhere the player character has been present at the time of registration(the registration accepted location in case of normal registration, orthe registration accepted location where the immediately previousregistration has been made in case of time-out registration). In thiscase, if there is a copy NPC associated with the registered playercharacter in the log-out process, every such copy NPC becomes a normalNPC and belongs to the party after the process associated with thelog-in is terminated.

At the time of the log-out process, the player can select one of suchcopy NPCs, and become a member of the party in place of the selectedcopy NPC to resume the game from the position on a field where the copyNPC is present (hereinafter referred to as “game resuming positionselecting process”). In this case, a copy NPC which takes place of aplayer character is deleted from the field, and every copy NPC otherthan the former copy NPC is moved as a normal NPC.

If at least one copy NPC of a player character is generated in anoff-line state before the log-in process, the total of the experiencevalues obtained by all the copy NPCs in the period of the off-line state(hereinafter referred to as “total experience value”) is added to theexperience value of the player character at the time of registration(hereinafter referred to as “experience value adding process”).Specifically, for a copy NPC present on a field at the time of thelog-in process, all the experience values which have been obtained untilthe log-in process are added up and are then added to the experiencevalue at the time of registration, whereas for a copy NPC which has beendeleted as a result of disappearance of the party to which the copy NPCbelongs, all the experience values from the point of generation of thecopy NPC to the point of deletion thereof are added up and are thenadded to the experience value at the time of registration.

When the total experience value resulting from the addition exceeds apredetermined value at which the level of the player character moves up,the level of the player character is moved up when the log-in process isperformed. In this manner, the player can resume the game with theplayer character with whose level has been moved up as a result of theaddition of the experience value. After the experience value addingprocess in the log-in process, the experience value obtained in anoff-line state by the original player character of every copy NPC isreset after the copy NPC becomes a normal NPC, and is not increased evenif an experience value in a battle is distributed.

When the player of a player character whose copy by another player isdisabled logs in again to be on-line and resumes the game within a givenperiod from the point of the time-out registration during which a playercharacter copying operation by another player is disabled, the playercan resume the game soon in the party in which a copy NPC associatedwith this player character is present, without going through the gameresuming position selecting process. At this time, the copy NPC isdeleted from the field, and the player character belongs to the partyinstead. The experience value obtained by the copy NPC within the givenperiod is added to the experience value of the player character at thetime of time-out registration when the game is resumed.

Regarding a copy NPC which has become a normal NPC this way, the playercharacter of the original copy NPC becomes off-line again, the normalNPC does not have any relation with the player character even if thenormal NPC has the same level, parameter, so forth as the playercharacter. When the log-out process is performed again and theregistration is updated, therefore, the experience value of every copyNPC which is added in the later log-in process is directed to theexperience value of a new copy NPC generated based on the newly updatedregistration.

The following describes the movement of a copy NPC which is decided bythe server apparatus 200 and the movement of an autopilot PC which isdecided by the video game apparatus 100. The movements which are decidedby the server apparatus 200 and the video game apparatus 100 differ inthe subject to be moved, but do not differ in procedures of deciding themovements. The movements include a movement associated with travelingand a movement associated with a battle. The movement associated withtraveling is basically decided so as to follow up another playercharacter in the party to which a copy NPC and an autopilot PC belong,and may be decided based on the information on the progress of the gamereceived from the server apparatus 200.

The movement associated with a battle is decided from movements of theplayer character which have been selected so far by the player accordingto the information on the progress of the game received from the serverapparatus 200 in an on-line state, based on the latest 100 movements.There are plural types of movements of the player character which areselected by the player in a battle, and those movements are stored ineach of the server apparatus 200 and the video game apparatus 100. Themovements of a copy NPC and an autopilot PC are analyzed and decidedbased on the selection of the stored movements.

Such a movement is decided from an action log of a player characteruntil the time of registration (the time of registration normalregistration) for a copy NPC, and is decided from an action log of theplayer's own player until the execution of the autopilot operation bythe player. In case of the time-out registration and the pseudo normalregistration, a player character moves as an autopilot PC immediatelybefore the player character is registered, so that the movement of theplayer character, like that of the immediately previous autopilot PC, isdecided from the action log of the player's own player character untilthe execution of the autopilot operation.

The following describes data which is managed by the server apparatus200 and data stored in the video game apparatus 100 in order to progresswith the network game according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4A shows a player character management table 400 for managing dataon players and the player's own player character who participate in thenetwork game according to the embodiment. FIG. 4B shows aregistered-character management table 410 for managing data onregistration of player characters. FIG. 4C shows an NPC management table420 for managing data on NPCs present on a field. FIG. 4D shows a paritymanagement table 430 managing data on party-forming player charactersfor each party.

The player character management table 400 shown in FIG. 4A managesplayer character IDs 401, password information 402, addresses 403, anon-line flag 404, an autopilot flag 405, position information 406, levelinformation 407, various parameters information 408, and experiencevalue information 409. The player character ID 401 is identificationinformation for identifying the position of each character present on afield.

The password information 402 is used to verify a player who moves aplayer character. The server apparatus 200 verifies if the combinationof a player character ID 401 and password information 402 which aretransmitted from the video game apparatus 100 by the player is correctto thereby verify if the player is the proper player to move the playercharacter corresponding to the player character ID 401.

The address 403 is an IP address assigned to specify a video gameapparatus 100 which manipulates an individual player. The on-line flag404 indicates whether the video game apparatus 100 associated with theplayer character is connected on-line. When the video game apparatus 100is on-line, the on-line flag 404 is ON (1), and when the video gameapparatus 100 is off-line, the on-line flag 404 is OFF (0). The on-lineflag 404 is updated by a log-in process or log-out process.

The autopilot flag 405 indicates whether the player character is anautopilot PC. When the player character is an autopilot PC, theautopilot flag 405 is ON (1), and when the player character is not anautopilot PC, the autopilot flag 405 is OFF (0). The positioninformation 406 indicates the position of a character on a field. Withregard to a player character, the position information 406 is updatedaccording to a traveling operation performed by the player. When theplayer character is an autopilot PC, the position information 406 isupdated according to a movement which is decided by the server apparatus200 (traveling movement following up a player character belonging to theparty).

The level information 407 indicates the level of the player character,and is updated when the experience value becomes a predetermined value.The various parameters information 408 stores various parameters of theplayer character, and is updated according to the progress of a battleor the like, or according to an increase in level. The experience valueinformation 409 indicates the value of the experience value which acharacter has obtained so far, and is updated every time an experiencevalue is obtained through a battle, or when there is an experience valueadded at the time of a log-in process. Though not shown in FIG. 4A, theplayer character management table 400 manages an action log for everyplayer character to be managed.

The registered-character management table 410 shown in FIG. 4B storesplayer character IDs 411, an on-line flag 412, an acceptance disableflag 413, location-of-registration information 414, number-of-copiesinformation 415, and accumulated experience value information 416. Theplayer character ID 411 is identification information which can uniquelyspecify a player character. The player character ID 411 is the sameinformation as the player character ID 401 stored in the playercharacter management table 400 shown in FIG. 4A, and corresponds one toone to the player character management table 400.

The on-line flag 412 is the same information as the on-line flag 404stored in the player character management table 400, and indicateswhether the player character is on-line (flag ON (1)), or off-line (flagOFF (0)). The acceptance disable flag 413 is information indicatingwhether a copy NPC can be generated from the registered player character(flag ON (1)), or cannot be generated therefrom (flag OFF (0)).Normally, the acceptance disable flag 413 is updated to “1” when theplayer character registration operation becomes on-line, and is updatedto “0” when the player character registration operation becomesoff-line. When the player character registration operation becomesoff-line after a time-out period elapses, however, the acceptancedisable flag 413 is not updated to “0” unless an acceptance disableperiod elapses thereafter.

The location-of-registration information 414 indicates the position ofthe location of acceptance of registration on a field where the playercharacter has been registered. The location-of-registration information414 is updated with positional information on the location of acceptanceof registration where a normal registration by the player has been done,or a pseudo normal registration originating from a normal registrationby a player belonging to the same party has been done in case that theplayer character is an autopilot PC.

The number-of-copies information 415 indicates the number of copy NPCsgenerated. The number-of-copies information 415 is incremented everytime a copy NPC is generated by execution of the player charactercopying operation with the registered player character being off-line,and is decremented by disappearance of the party to which the copy NPCsbelong. In the log-in process of a player character associated with acopy NPC, the copy NPC is replaced with a normal NPC or a playercharacter, the number-of-copies information 415 is updated (reset) to“0”.

The accumulated experience value information 416 stores an experiencevalue obtained by a copy NPC when the registered player character isoff-line. The accumulated experience value information 416 is added andupdated with an experience value obtained by the copy NPC upon deletionof the copy NPC resulting from disappearance of the party, and isupdated (reset) to “0” in a log-in process associated with theregistered player character.

The NPC management table 420 shown in FIG. 4C stores NPC IDs 421, playercharacter IDs 422, a copy NPC flag 423, position information 424,various parameters information 425, and experience value information426. In the NPC management table 420, generation of a copy NPC adds arecord, and deletion of a copy NPC or a normal NPC causes a recordassociated with that NPC to be deleted.

The NPC ID 421 is identification information which uniquely specifies anNPC, and information which does not match with the player character IDs401, 411 associated with the player characters shown in FIGS. 4A and 4Bis set to the NPC ID 421. When an NPC is a copy NPC, the playercharacter ID 422 stores the player character ID 411 of the registeredplayer character which is the base of the copy NPC. When the copy NPCbecomes a normal NPC at the time of the log-in process, the playercharacter ID 411 is deleted, whereas when the NPC keeps being a normalNPC, the information of the player character ID 422 becomes invalid(NULL).

The copy NPC flag 423 indicates whether an NPC is a copy NPC or a normalNPC. When an NPC is a copy NPC, the copy NPC flag 423 is ON (1), andwhen an NPC is a normal NPC, the copy NPC flag 423 is OFF (0). Theposition information 424 indicates the position of an NPC on a field,and is updated according to the movement which is decided by the serverapparatus 200 (traveling movement following up a player characterbelonging to the party).

The various parameters information 425 stores various parameters of anNPC, including what is updated according to the progress of a battle orthe like. Because the level of an NPC does not increase, the parametersare not updated by an increase in level. The experience valueinformation 426 is information indicating the value of the experiencevalue which has been obtained through battles so far. Regarding a copyNPC, the experience value information 426 is updated with a value addedwith the experience value which is distributed for each battle until thecopy NPC is deleted or until the time of performing a log-in processassociated with the registered player character which is the base of thecopy NPC. Regarding a normal NPC, the experience value information 426is not updated even when the experience value is distributed for eachbattle, and becomes invalid (NULL). Though not shown in FIG. 4C, the NPCmanagement table 420 manages an action log for every NPC to be managed.When an NPC is a copy NPC, or when a copy NPC becomes a normal NPC, theaction log of the player character which is the base of that NPC iscopied directly.

The parity management table 430 shown in FIG. 4D stores party IDs 431,party-forming player character information 432 and party-forming NPCinformation 433. The party ID 431 is identification information whichuniquely identifies a party present on a field. The party-forming playercharacter information 432 stores at least one player character ID of aplayer character among characters forming a party. While theparty-forming NPC information 433 can store a plurality of NPC IDs ofNPCs among characters forming a party, the information becomes invalid(NULL) when there is no NPC in the party.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the structure of data to be stored in thevideo game apparatus 100. Stored in the RAM 105 or the HDD 107 of thevideo game apparatus 100 are character IDs 501, a party ID 502, anon-line flag 503, an autopilot flag 504, position information 505, levelinformation 506, various parameters information 507, experience valueinformation 508, action log information 509, and other-player-characterinformation 510.

The character ID 501 is unique to a player character which is moved bythe player on the video game apparatus 100 where the character ID 501 isstored, and corresponds to the player character ID 401 in the playercharacter management table 400 shown in FIG. 4A and the player characterID 411 in the registered-character management table 410 shown in FIG.4B. The character ID 501 and the player character ID 401 uniquelyspecify a field, a player character on a battle field, and the videogame apparatus 100 which moves the player character, and the characterID 501 and the player character ID 411 uniquely specify information on aregistered player character and the video game apparatus 100 which ismanipulated by a player who has performed a player characterregistration operation.

The party ID 502 is identification information for a party which iscomposed of the player character which is moved by this video gameapparatus 100 as a member, and corresponds to the party ID 431 stored inthe parity management table 430 shown in FIG. 4D. This correlation canuniquely specify to which party the player character to be moved by thevideo game apparatus 100 belongs. The on-line flag 503 indicates whetherthe video game apparatus 100 is connected on-line to the serverapparatus 200. When the video game apparatus 100 is on-line, the on-lineflag 503 is ON (1), and when the video game apparatus 100 is off-line,the on-line flag 503 is OFF (0).

The autopilot flag 504 indicates whether the player character to bemoved by the video game apparatus 100 is an autopilot PC. When theplayer character is an autopilot PC, the autopilot flag 504 is ON (1),and when the player character is not an autopilot PC, the autopilot flag504 is OFF (0). The position information 505, the level information 506,the various parameters information 507 and the experience valueinformation 508 (hereinafter referred to as “game information”) areinformation having the same contents as game information including theposition information 406, the level information 407, the variousparameters information 408 and the experience value information 409which are stored in the player character management table 400 shown inFIG. 4A. With the video game apparatus 100 being on-line, exchange ofthose pieces of information between the video game apparatus 100 and theserver apparatus 200 keeps those pieces of information in anon-contradictory state in the progress of the game.

The action log information 509 stores the action log of the playercharacter which is moved on the video game apparatus 100. Theother-player-character information 510 stores information, such asvarious parameters information and information on action modes or thelike of other player characters in the party to which the player's ownplayer character belongs, and includes data needed to display othercharacters (player characters, NPCs, and an opponent character) on thedisplay screen 122 by each video game apparatus 100.

The following describes a routine which is executed by the network gamesystem according to the embodiment. FIGS. 6 and 7 present flowchartsillustrating routines which are executed by the server apparatus 200according to the embodiment. The routines which are executed by theserver apparatus 200 include processes other than the steps illustratedin the flowcharts in FIGS. 6 and 7, which particularly illustrate thesteps which are executed in connection to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 203 of the server apparatus 200determines whether ½ second has passed since the initiation of the gameor since the previous elapsing of ½ second (step S101). When havingdetermined that ½ second has passed, the control unit 203 executes aserver game progress process (step S102). The server game progressprocess is a process to progress with the game which is executed by theserver apparatus 200. For example, this process determines and executesmovements of an NPC, an opponent character, etc., and updatesinformation which is changed according to the result.

The control unit 203 transmits information updated based on informationinput by the player of a video game apparatus 100 in an on-line state,together with the information update in the server game progressprocess, as server game progress information to all the on-line videogame apparatuses 100 (step S103). Then, the control unit 203 returns tothe process of step S101.

When having determined in step S101 that ½ second has not passed, thecontrol unit 203 determines whether there is at least one registeredplayer character whose acceptance disable period (s) is measured by aninternal timer (hereinafter referred to as “temporarily acceptancedisabled character”) (step S111). When having determined that there isat least one temporarily acceptance disabled character, the control unit203 determines whether the temporarily acceptance disabled charactersinclude a temporarily acceptance disabled character whose acceptancedisable period measured is equal to or greater than 2 hours (step S112).

When having determined that there is a temporarily acceptance disabledcharacter whose acceptance disable period measured is equal to orgreater than 2 hours, the control unit 203 sets the acceptance disableflag OFF (step S113). The control unit 203 terminates measurement of theacceptance disable period for the temporarily acceptance disabledcharacter (step S114), and returns to the process of step S101.

When having determined in step S111 that there is no temporarilyacceptance disabled character, or when having determined in step S112that there is not any temporarily acceptance disabled character whoseacceptance disable period measured is equal to or greater than 2 hours,the control unit 203 determines whether the information on making arequest for a log-in process (hereinafter referred to as “log-in requestinformation”) transmitted from the video game apparatus 100 is received(step S121). When having determined that the log-in request informationis received, the control unit 203 compares the player character ID andpassword included in the log-in request information with the playercharacter ID 401 and the password information 402 associated with thisplayer character, stored in the player character management table 400,to verify the player who manipulates the video game apparatus 100 (stepS122).

The control unit 203 determines whether the player has been verified asa proper player qualified to participate in the game as a result of thedecision in step S122 (step S123). When having determined that theplayer has been verified, the control unit 203 sets the on-line flagstored in the player character management table 400 ON for the playercharacter which is moved by the player (step S124). When havingdetermined that the player has not been verified, the control unit 203returns to the process of step S101.

After setting the on-line flag ON, the control unit 203 determines theacceptance disable flag 413 stored in the registered-charactermanagement table 410 and indicating whether the player character is notacceptable (step S125). When having determined that the acceptancedisable flag 413 is OFF, the control unit 203 sets the acceptancedisable flag 413 ON (step S126) and proceeds to step S128. When havingdetermined in step S125 that the acceptance disable flag 413 is ON, thecontrol unit 203 determines whether the player character associated withthe verification is a temporarily acceptance disabled character by meansof the internal timer (step S127). When having determined that theplayer character is not a temporarily acceptance disabled character, thecontrol unit 203 proceeds to step S128.

In step S128, when there is a copy NPC which is copied based on theregistered player character of the verified player at the time theverification has been performed, the control unit 203 adds up theexperience value obtained by the copy NPC which is stored in the NPCmanagement table 420 and the accumulated experience value information416 stored in the registered-character management table 410, and addsthe total experience value to the experience value information 409 ofthe verified player character which is stored in the player charactermanagement table 400 (step S128). When the experience value information409 becomes a predetermined value at which the level of the playercharacter moves up at this time, the control unit 203 updates the levelinformation 407 to be stored in the player character management table400, and updates the various parameters information 408 if the increasein level increases a parameter.

When there is a copy NPC, the control unit 203 extracts information on aparty to which the copy NPC belongs (hereinafter referred to as “copyNPC party information”) from the parity management table 430, andtransmits the extracted information, together with the updated levelinformation on the player character, various parameters information,etc. (hereinafter referred to as “character information in log-inmode”), to the video game apparatus 100 which is manipulated by theverified player (step S129). Then, the control unit 203 returns to theprocess of step S101.

When having determined in step S127 that the player character associatedwith verification is a temporarily acceptance disabled character, thecontrol unit 203 determines whether there is a copy NPC (step S130).When having determined that there is a copy NPC, the control unit 203adds the experience value obtained by the copy NPC in the acceptancedisable period to the experience value information 409 of the playercharacter at the time of time-out registration to be stored in theplayer character management table 400, updates the level information 407to be stored in the player character management table 400 when theexperience value information 409 of the player character becomes apredetermined value at which the level of the player character moves up,and updates the various parameters information 408 if the increase inlevel increases a parameter (step S131).

Because it is the acceptance disable period when the log-in process iscarried out, the number of copy NPCs is only one. After step S131,therefore, the control unit 203 adds the character ID associated withthe copy NPC to the party-forming player character information 432 inthe parity management table 430 for the party to which the copy NPCbelongs, and deletes the copy NPC from the party-forming NPC information433 (step S132). The control unit 203 updates the position information406 to be stored in the player character management table 400 andassociated with the verification to information on the position in whichthe copy NPC has been present, and transmits the updated informationtogether with the character information in log-in mode to the video gameapparatus 100 associated with the verification. The control unit 203terminates measurement of the acceptance disable period for the playercharacter (step S133), and returns to the process of step S101.

When having determined in step S130 that there is no copy NPC, the isupdated adds the accumulated experience value information 416 obtainedby the copy NPC which has been deleted before the verification andstored in the registered-character management table 410 to theexperience value information 409 of the player character at the time oftime-out registration to be stored in the player character managementtable 400, updates the level information 407 to be stored in the playercharacter management table 400 when the experience value information 409becomes a predetermined value at which the level of the player charactermoves up, and updates the various parameters information 408 andtransmits the updated information together with the characterinformation in log-in mode if the increase in level increases aparameter (step S134). Then, the control unit 203 executes the processof step S133, and returns to the process of step S101.

When having determined in step S121 that the log-in request informationis not received, the control unit 203 determines whether informationassociated with selection of a party or a position at the time ofresuming the game (hereinafter referred to as “moving destinationdetermining information”) is received from the video game apparatus 100(step S141). When having determined that the moving destinationdetermining information is received, the control unit 203 updates theposition information 406 included in the moving destination determininginformation and to be stored in the player character management table400 for the player character of the player who is attempting to resumethe game (step S142).

When a party is selected as a location of resuming the game, the controlunit 203 adds the character ID of the player character to theparty-forming player character information 432 to be stored in theparity management table 430 for this party, and deletes the copy NPCwhich is generated from the player character (copy NPC for which theplayer character ID of the player character is the same as the playercharacter ID 422 in the NPC management table 420) from the party-formingNPC information 433.

When there is a remaining copy NPC generated from the player character,the control unit 203 sets the copy NPC flag 423 in the NPC managementtable 420 OFF, ad clears the player character ID 422 and the experiencevalue information 426 (step S143). Then, the control unit 203 returns tothe process of step S101.

When having determined in step S141 that the moving destinationdetermining information is not received, the control unit 203 determineswhether information on a request for the log-out process for the playercharacter transmitted from the video game apparatus 100, and informationon setting of whether the player permits copying of the registeredplayer character (hereinafter referred to as “log-out requestinformation”) (step S151). When having determined that the log-outrequest information is received, the control unit 203 sets OFF both theon-line flag 404 and the on-line flag 412 to be respectively stored inthe player character management table 400 and the registered-charactermanagement table 410 for the player character of the player (step S152).

The control unit 203 determines whether the information associated withpermission of copying the registered player character included in thelog-out request information will permit copying or not (step S153). Whenhaving determined that the information indicates permission of copying,the control unit 203 sets OFF the acceptance disable flag 413 to bestored in the registered-character management table 410 for the playercharacter (step S154). When having determined in step S153 that theinformation does not indicate permission of copying, or after step S153,the control unit 203 returns to the process of step S101.

When having determined in step S151 that the log-out request informationis not received, the control unit 203 determines whether information onan input relating to a battle, a request for generation of a copy NPC,or the like transmitted from the video game apparatus 100 (hereinafterreferred to as “client information”) is received (step S161). Whenhaving determined that the client information is received, the controlunit 203 executes a battle relating process based on the input relatingto a battle, or a client information process for performing a process ofgenerating a copy NPC based on the manipulation of the player character(step S162). The client information process will be described in detaillater. Then, the control unit 203 returns to the process of step S101.

In the server game progress process as shown in FIG. 7A, the controlunit 203 determines whether there is any copy NPC which has notundergone a determination as to whether or not to move the copy NPC, andas to what movement the copy NPC should take if the copy NPC is to bemoved (hereinafter referred to as “unprocessed copy NPC”) (step S201).When having determined that there is an unprocessed copy NPC, thecontrol unit 203 decides the movement of the copy NPC according toinformation on the progress of the game based on the action log of theplayer character relating to one copy NPC among such unprocessed copyNPCs, and updates information on various parameters or the like of eachcharacter which vary according to the movement (step S202).

The control unit 203 determines whether the result of the movement ofthe copy NPC will result in winning of the battle (step S203). Whenhaving determined that the battle is won, the control unit 203 equallydivides the experience value obtained through the winning of the battleby the number of party characters to which the copy NPC belongs, andadds the divided experience value to the experience value of a characterother than a normal NPC for update (step S204). Specifically, theexperience value equally divided by the number of party characters isadded to the experience value information 409 to be stored in the playercharacter management table 400 for an autopilot PC, or the experiencevalue information 409 to be stored in the NPC management table 420 for acopy NPC. Then, the control unit 203 returns to the process of stepS201. When having determined in step S203 that the battle is not wont,the control unit 203 also returns to the process of step S201.

When having determined in step S201 that an unprocessed copy NPC is notpresent, the control unit 203 executes a process or the like relating toa determination on the movement of a normal NPC, an opponent characteror the like as another game progress process (step S205). Since thisprocess is not related to the invention, its description is omitted.

In the client information process of the server apparatus 200, as shownin FIG. 7B, the control unit 203 determines whether the received clientinformation is information associated with an input related to a battle(hereinafter referred to as “battle relating process”) (step S301). Whenthe battle relating information is received, the control unit 203executes a battle relating process such as update of various parametersinformation of the player character, based on the input information(step S302). Since the battle relating process is not related to theinvention, its description is omitted.

The control unit 203 determines whether the result of the battlerelating process will result in winning of the battle (step S303). Whenhaving determined that the battle is won, the control unit 203 equallydivides the experience value obtained through the winning of the battleby the number of characters forming the party to which the copy NPCbelongs, and adds the divided experience value to the experience valueof a character other than a normal NPC for update (step S304). Thedetails of the process are the same as those of the process of step S204in the server game progress process. Then, the control unit 203terminates the client information process. When having determined instep S303 that the battle is not wont, the control unit 203 alsoterminates the client information process.

When having determined in step S301 that the client information is notbattle relating information, the control unit 203 determines whether thereceived client information is information relating to a request forgeneration of a copy NPC (hereinafter referred to as “copy requestinformation”) (step S311). When having determined that the clientinformation is copy request information, the control unit 203 determineswhether the copy request information relates to a request for generationof a copy NPC at the time of time-out registration (hereinafter referredto as “time-out copy request information”) (step S312). When havingdetermined that the copy request information is not time-out copyrequest information, the control unit 203 decides that the time-out copyrequest information relates to a player character copying operation, anddetermines whether a copy NPC can be generated for the registered playercharacter which is the target for the generation of the copy NPC basedon the acceptance disable flag 413 to be stored in theregistered-character management table 410 (step S313).

When having determined that a copy NPC can be generated, the controlunit 203 determines whether the upper limit of the number of copy NPCswhich can be generated for the target registered player character basedon the number-of-copies information 415 to be stored in theregistered-character management table 410 (step S314). When havingdetermined that the number-of-copies information 415 is not the upperlimit, the control unit 203 generates a copy NPC according to the copyrequest information (step S315). The control unit 203 increments thenumber-of-copies information 415 to be stored in theregistered-character management table 410 by “1” for the registeredplayer character whose copy NPC has been generated (step S316). Then,the control unit 203 terminates the client information process. Whenhaving determined in step S313 that a copy NPC cannot be generated, orwhen having determined in step S314 that the number-of-copiesinformation 415 is the upper limit, the control unit 203 also terminatesthe client information process.

When having determined in step S312 that the copy request information istime-out copy request information, the control unit 203 sets OFF theon-line flag 404 to be stored in the player character management table400 and the on-line flag 412 to be stored in the registered-charactermanagement table 410 for the player character which is moved by thevideo game apparatus 100 to which the time-out copy request informationhas been transmitted (step S317). The control unit 203 resets theacceptance disable period s for the registered player character (stepS318), then starts measuring the acceptance disable period s (stepS319), and executes the processes of steps S315 and S316. Then, thecontrol unit 203 terminates the client information process.

When having determined in step S311 that the client information is notcopy request information, the control unit 203 executes another gameprocess based on information which is not battle relating information orcopy request information (step S321). Then, the control unit 203terminates the client information process.

FIGS. 8 and 9 present flowcharts illustrating routines which areexecuted by the video game apparatus 100 according to the embodiment.The routines which are executed by the video game apparatus 100 includeprocesses other than the steps illustrated in the flowcharts in FIGS. 8and 9, which particularly illustrate the steps which are executed inconnection to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 8, the control unit 103 of the video game apparatus 100determines whether 1/30 second has passed since the initiation of thegame or since the previous elapsing of 1/30 second (step S401). Whenhaving determined that 1/30 second has passed, the control unit 103generates an image to be displayed on the display screen 122 based on aposition associated with the player character which is moved by thevideo game apparatus 100, the other-player-character information 510 tobe stored in the video game apparatus 100 and the like (step S402).Since the process relating to generation of an image is not related tothe invention, its description is omitted. Then, the control unit 103returns to the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S401 that 1/30 second has not passed, thecontrol unit 103 determines whether the video game apparatus 100 ison-line (step S411). When having determined that the video gameapparatus 100 is on-line, the control unit 103 determines whether inputinformation relating to an operation for the player to perform a log-inprocess is detected (step S412). When having determined that the inputinformation is detected, the control unit 103 transmits log-in requestinformation to the server apparatus 200 (step S413). Then, the controlunit 103 returns to the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S412 that input information relating tothe operation for the log-in process is not detected, the control unit103 determines whether the character information in log-in modetransmitted from the server apparatus 200 is received (step S414). Whenhaving determined that the character information in log-in mode is notreceived, the control unit 103 updates the level information 506, thevarious parameters information 507, etc. to be stored in the video gameapparatus 100, based on the character information in log-in mode (stepS415). Then, the control unit 103 returns to the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S414 that the character information inlog-in mode is not received, the control unit 103 determines whetherinput information relating to an operation representing that the playerhas decided from which one of a party to which a copy NPC belongs, or aposition in which the player's own player character has been registered,each received together with the character information in log-in mode andincluded in the copy NPC party information, the game will be resumed(the operation being hereinafter referred to as “moving destinationdetermining operation”) is detected (step S416). When having determinedthat the input information is detected, the control unit 103 updates theposition information 505 to be stored in the video game apparatus 100with the information on the decided position, and transmits the updatedinformation to the server apparatus 200 as moving destinationdetermining information (step S417). The control unit 103 sets theon-line flag 503 ON (step S418), and returns to the process of stepS401. When having determined in step S416 that input informationrelating to the moving destination determining operation is notdetected, the control unit 103 returns to the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S411 that the video game apparatus 100 ison-line, the control unit 103 determines whether the server gameprogress information is received from the server apparatus 200 (stepS421). When having determined that server game progress information isreceived, the control unit 103 updates the various parametersinformation 507, the other-player-character information 510, etc. to bestored in the video game apparatus 100 with the information updated inthe server game progress process included in the server game progressinformation (step S422), and returns to the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S421 that the server game progressinformation is not received, the control unit 103 determines whether theplayer character is an autopilot PC based on the autopilot flag 504(step S431). When having determined that the player character is anautopilot PC, the control unit 103 determines whether ½ second haspassed since the initiation of the game or since the previous elapsingof ½ second (step S432). When having determined that ½ second haspassed, the control unit 103 determines the movement of the autopilot PCaccording to information on the progress of the game based on the actionlog information 509 of the player character, transmits the informationon the movement to the server apparatus 200, and updates the variousparameters information 507 or the like which is changed by the movement(step S433). Then, the control unit 103 returns to the process of stepS401.

When having determined in step S432 that ½ second has not passed, thecontrol unit 103 determines whether the time-out period has beenmeasured for 60 minutes or longer (step S441). When having determinedthat the time-out period has been measured for 60 minutes or longer, thecontrol unit 103 transmits time-out copy request information (stepS442). The control unit 103 sets the autopilot flag 504 to be stored inthe video game apparatus 100 OFF (step S443), and terminates measurementof the time-out period (step S444). The control unit 103 sets theon-line flag 503 to be stored in the video game apparatus 100 OFF (stepS445), and returns to the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S441 that the time-out period has notbeen measured for 60 minutes or longer, the control unit 103 determineswhether input information relating to an autopilot cancel operation bythe player is detected (step S451). When having determined that theinput information is detected, the control unit 103 sets the autopilotflag 504 to be stored in the video game apparatus 100 OFF (step S452).Then, the control unit 103 returns to the process of step S401. Whenhaving determined in step S451 that input information relating to theautopilot cancel operation is not detected, the control unit 103 returnsto the process of step S401.

When having determined in step S431 that the player character is not anautopilot PC, the control unit 103 determines whether input information,such as an operation relating to the progress of the game, an autopilotoperation, or a player character copying operation, by the player(hereinafter referred to as “game progress input information”) isdetected (step S461). When having determined that there is game progressinput information, the control unit 103 performs a game progress inputprocess (step S462). The details of the game progress input process willbe given later. When the game progress input process is terminated, thecontrol unit 103 returns to the process of step S101.

When having determined in step S461 that game progress input informationis not detected, the control unit 103 determines whether inputinformation relating to the player character registration operation bythe player is detected (step S471). When having determined that inputinformation relating to the player character registration operation isdetected, the control unit 103 transmits log-out request information tothe server apparatus 200 (step S472), and sets the on-line flag 503 OFF(step S473). Then, the control unit 103 terminates the process on thevideo game apparatus 100. When having determined in step S471 that inputinformation relating to the player character registration operation isnot detected, the control unit 103 returns to the process of step S401.

In the game progress process of the video game apparatus 100, as shownin FIG. 9, the control unit 103 determines whether an input relating toan autopilot operation by the player is detected (step S501). Whenhaving determined that the input is detected, the control unit 103 setsthe autopilot flag 504 to be stored in the video game apparatus 100 ON(step S502). The control unit 103 resets a time-out period (t) which ismeasured by the internal timer, and starts measuring the time-out period(t) (step S503). Then, the control unit 103 terminates the game progressprocess.

When having determined in step S501 that an input relating to theautopilot operation is not detected, the control unit 103 determineswhether the an input relating to the player character copying operationby the player is detected (step S511). When having determined that theinput is detected, the control unit 103 transmits copy requestinformation to the server apparatus 200 (step S512). Then, the controlunit 103 terminates the game progress process.

When having determined in step S511 that the input relating to theplayer character copying operation is not detected, the control unit 103determines whether input information on the movement of the player's ownplayer character relating to a battle is detected (step S521). Whenhaving determined that the input information is detected, the controlunit 103 transmits the information on the movement of the player's ownplayer character to the server apparatus 200, and updates the variousparameters information 507 or the like which is changed by the movement(step S522).

The information on the movement of the player's own player characterrelating to a battle which is transmitted to the server apparatus 200 instep S522, and the information on the movement of an autopilot PC instep S433 differ from each other in that the player himself/herselfmoves the player's own player character while the control unit 103 movesthe player's own player character, but should not be distinguished fromeach other as movement-relating information received by the serverapparatus 200.

When having determined in step S521 that the input information on theplayer's own player character relating to a battle is not detected, thecontrol unit 103 determines whether another input information generatedby the player operating the input device 163 is detected (step S531).When having determined that the input information is detected, thecontrol unit 103 updates the various parameters information 507 or thelike to be stored in the video game apparatus 100, and transmits theinformation on the input operation to the server apparatus 200 (stepS532). Then, the control unit 103 terminates the game progress process.

When having determined in step S531 that the input operation is notdetected, the control unit 103 executes a game progressing process otherthan the foregoing processes on the video game apparatus 100 (stepS541). Then, the control unit 103 terminates the game progress process.

The interaction on the process of an autopilot PC between individualobjects is described in detail on the time-sequential basis. FIG. 10 isa sequence chart illustrating the interaction on an autopilot PC betweenindividual objects.

The description is given, by way of example, of processes for theautopilot operation by the player, execution of the movement of anautopilot PC by the video game apparatus 100 until the autopilot canceloperation, and termination of the movement of the autopilot PC by thevideo game apparatus 100 as a result of elapsing of a predeterminedperiod (60 minutes) after the initiation of the movement of theautopilot PC through the autopilot operation by the player, andexecution of the movement of a copy NPC by the server apparatus 200thereafter.

Although the process relating to an autopilot PC is the process to beexecuted when the player character forms a party with the playercharacters of other players, the video game apparatus 100 which movesother player characters is not particularly elaborated.

When the player performs an autopilot operation using the input device163 of the on-line video game apparatus 100, the control unit 103 of thevideo game apparatus 100 moves the player character as an autopilot PCin response to the operation (sequence SQ1). Then, when the playerperforms an autopilot cancel operation thereafter using the input devicethe control 103 cancels the movement of the player character as anautopilot PC in response to the autopilot cancel operation, and movesthe player character according to the manipulation on the input device163 performed by the player. Even when an operation other than theautopilot cancel operation is performed during this period, the controlunit 103 keeps moving the player character as an autopilot PC.

In response to the autopilot operation by the player again, the controlunit 103 moves the player character as an autopilot PC (sequence SQ2).When 60 minutes (time-out period) passes thereafter without anyautopilot cancel operation performed by the player, the control unit 103executes a log-out process to set the video game apparatus 100 off-line(sequence SQ3). At this time, the control unit 103 transmits time-outcopy request information to the server apparatus 200 (sequence SQ4).

When the server apparatus 200 receives the time-out copy requestinformation, the control unit 203 of the server apparatus 200 generatesa copy NPC which is moved by the server apparatus 200 (sequence SQ5).Since the video game apparatus 100 becomes off-line at this time, theplayer character which has been moved by the video game apparatus 100 isdeleted, and the copy NPC belongs to the party to which the playercharacter has belonged instead. Thereafter, the control unit 203 of theserver apparatus 200 performs the movement of the copy NPC until theparty to which the copy NPC belongs disappears (sequence SQ6).

In the network game system according to the embodiment, as describedabove, at the time of performing a log-out process in the game, theplayer registers the player's own player character by performing aplayer character registration operation. When the player character isregistered, and the video game apparatus 100 which is manipulated by theplayer becomes off-line, another player who manipulates an on-line videogame apparatus 100 can generate a copy NPC of the player character byperforming a player character copying operation.

At this time, the movement of the copy NPC or movements including amovement in a battle are determined by the server apparatus 200.Accordingly, even when the video game apparatus 100 is off-line, and theplayer who manipulates this video game apparatus 100 cannot move theplayer's own player character in the game which is managed by the serverapparatus 200, a copy NPC based on the player character can be movedaccording to the progress of the game. This allows a player manipulatingan on-line video game apparatus 100 to feel as if the player is playingthe game with the registered player character in the progress of thegame. Therefore, the player can play the game in his/her own pace oflife with other players without being forced to match each play timingof the game in real time.

In performing the player character registration operation, the playercan set whether or not to permit other players to generate a ropy NPCbased on the player's own player character in a period in which thevideo game apparatus which is manipulated by the player is off-line,thus preventing the game to progress through the movement of the copyNPC based on the player's own player character of which the playercannot be aware.

When the video game apparatus 100 which the player manipulates ison-line to play the game, the player can move the player's own playercharacter as an autopilot PC without depending on the player'smanipulation on the input device 163. At this time, the movement of thecopy NPC or movements including a movement in a battle are determined bythe video game apparatus 100 which is manipulated by the player of theplayer character. Accordingly, the player's own player character can bemoved according to the progress of the game without involving theplayer's own manipulation, so that other players will not feeluncomfortable.

Because a player who moves the player's own player character as anautopilot PC can move the player's own player character according to theprogress of the game without involving the player's own manipulation,the player can temporarily break away from playing the game at a desiredtiming in a middle of the progress of the game. Because the player's ownplayer character is moved according to the progress of the game thisway, the player's own player character is kept moving by the video gameapparatus 100 even if the player temporarily breaks away from the game.This can permit the game to keep progressing in cooperation with otherplayers forming the same party without causing the other players to waitfor the breakaway player. It is possible to suppress the occurrence oftroubles on the other players, thus suppressing ruining the relationshipof trust with the other players.

When the player's own player character is moved as an autopilot PC, theplayer's own player character can be moved again based on the player'sown manipulation by performing the autopilot cancel operation to depressa predetermined button on the input device 163 to cancel the autopilotoperation. Because the movement information of the player's own playercharacter as an autopilot PC is canceled by a predetermined canceloperation by the player, it is possible prevent the movement of theplayer character from being canceled unexpectedly to inhibit the playercharacter from moving when the player does not temporarily manipulatethe player's own player character himself/herself.

Battles-relating movements of the player's own player character whichhave been decided and selected by the player in the game are stored asthe action log information 509 in the video game apparatus 100 which ismanipulated by the player himself/herself. The action log information ofthe individual player characters is likewise stored in the playercharacter management table 400 in the server apparatus 200 for eachplayer character, and the action log information of a player characteron which the former action log information is based is as is, in the NPCmanagement table 420 together with various parameters information or thelike.

Based on the action log information stored in this manner, the movementsof a copy NPC and an autopilot PC in a battle are decided. Accordingly,the movement of the player character which is selected by the player isreflected on the movements of the copy NPC and the autopilot PC. Even amovement which is not directly based on the player's manipulation canreduce uncomfortable feeling of other players on the movements of thecopy NPC and the autopilot PC.

When an opponent character can be defeated as a consequence of themovements of a copy NPC and an autopilot PC which are not directly basedon the player's manipulation, the experience value obtained through abattle is equally divided by the number of members forming a party andthe resultant value is added to the experience value of each of the copyNPC and the autopilot PC. Apparently, the experience value obtained as aconsequence of a battle is obtained for an autopilot PC in a way similarto the normal way the player obtains it by manipulating the playercharacter.

In case of a copy NPC, the experience value obtained by the copy NPCwhich is based on the player character that has been moved on the videogame apparatus 100 while the video game apparatus 100 has been off-lineis added to the experience value of the player character when the videogame apparatus 100 becomes on-line. Even when the video game apparatus100 on which the player character is moved is off-line, the feeling thatthe player character has been moved is obtained. A player who has fewertime to play the game can obtain an experience value, which makes theplayer's own player character stronger, while the player is not playing,so that the difference between the performances of player characterswhich is originated from the difference in play time can be reduced.This can suppress declining of the motivation for playing the game.

When one or more copy NPCs actually generated are present and have notbeen deleted at the time of performing a log-in process on the videogame apparatus 100, executing the game resuming position selectingprocess makes it possible to resume the game from the position on afield where a single copy NPC selected by the player is present.Accordingly, even when the video game apparatus 100 the playermanipulates is off-line, disabling the corresponding player character tomove, the player character can be made to smoothly adapt itself to theprogress of the game which has been made with the copy NPC, therebyreducing uncomfortable feeling of other players on the movement of theplayer character.

Even if the player attempts to forcibly move the player's own playercharacter as an autopilot PC through the autopilot operation, when thetime-out period of 60 minutes passes, the video game apparatus 100 whichmoves the player's own player character is forcibly set off-line. Ingeneral, when a player is not playing a network game on a correspondingvideo game apparatus 100 (is not making any input through the inputdevice), there is not information to be transmitted to the serverapparatus 200 from the video game apparatus 100, so that the serverapparatus 200 determines that the game is not played on a video gameapparatus 100 which has not transmitted information in a certain longduration, and causes the player of this video game apparatus 100 tobreak away from the game.

In the network game system according to the embodiment, an autopilotoperation is performed, so that the video game apparatus 100 whoseautopilot has not been canceled transmits information on the movement ofthe player character to the server apparatus 200 even when the playerdoes not perform an input operation using the input device 163. This mayprevent the player of the video game apparatus 100 from semipermanentlyleaving the game unless no measure thereagainst is taken. Of course,when the state of no input being made to the video game apparatus 100continues for 60 minutes or longer, a request for time-out registrationmay be transmitted to make the player of the video game apparatus 100leave the game as in the case where the player performs the playercharacter registration operation to set the player's own video gameapparatus 100 off-line.

When a log-out process is forcibly carried out when the time-out periodpasses, however, the player character which has been the autopilot PC isdeleted, and a copy NPC generated based on this player character iscaused to belong to the party to which the player character hasbelonged. Accordingly, even when the time-out period elapses with theplayer keeping the player's own player character moving as an autopilotPC, the character will not be deleted right away, but a copy NPCgenerated based on the player's own player character is moved, thusmaking it possible to prevent other players from feeling unnatural aboutthe progress of the game. Because the player character does not becomeoff-line and disappear from the party immediately, and a copy NPC to begenerated is generated based on this player character, it is possible toavoid causing an inconvenience or a trouble on other players forming theparty.

The invention is not limited to the foregoing embodiment, and ismodifiable and applicable in various forms. Some modifications of theembodiment which are applicable to the invention will be describedbelow.

According to the embodiment, each character obtains an experience valueas a result of defeating an opponent character in a battle. Theembodiment of the invention is not however limited to this particularcase, but money may be obtained as a result of defeating an opponentcharacter instead in addition to or in place of the experience value. Inthis case, the player can purchase equipment or an item to increasevarious parameters of the player character with money, and an item whichincreases a parameter more needs greater money.

To obtain a lot of money by defeating a stronger opponent character, theplayer can repeat battles to increase the money of the player's ownplayer character to obtain a stronger item, thereby making the player'sown player character stronger so that the player progresses with thegame in order to defeat a stronger opponent character. In this manner,money can motivate the player in a way similar to what is motivated bythe experience value.

According to the embodiment, when a player character is moving as anautopilot PC, the player cancels the movement of the autopilot PC byperforming the autopilot cancel operation of depressing a predeterminedbutton on the input device 163. The embodiment of the invention is notlimited to this mode, and operating any button or any direction keyprovided on the input device 163, the player may be able to move theautopilot PC as a player character again. This scheme make isunnecessary for a player to think what kind of manipulation should betaken to cancel the movement of the player character as an autopilot PC,so that the player can quickly release the player's own player characterfrom moving as an autopilot PC, so that the player's own playercharacter can be moved by the player.

Although the player makes setting as to whether a registered playercharacter is allowed to be copyable or not at the time of normalregistration, a registered player character may be set to be copyable asthe initial setting and copying thereof may be prohibited beforehand byselection made by the player.

According to the embodiment, the information on the movement of theplayer's own player character relating to a battle which is transmittedto the server apparatus 200 in step S522, and the information on themovement of an autopilot PC in step S433 should not be distinguishedfrom each other as movement-relating information received by the serverapparatus 200. However, the server apparatus 200 may discriminate thatsubject matters with their movements decided differ from each other.

According to the embodiment, the upper limit of the number of copy NPCswhich can be generated for a single registered player character(hereinafter referred to as “number of generatable copy NPCs”) is “50”.However, the maximum number of generatable copy NPCs may not be set, ormay be set a smaller number, such as “5” or “1”.

According to the embodiment, all the experience values obtained by agenerated copy NPC are added up and the total experience value is addedto the experience value of the player character which is the base of thecopy NPC when the video game apparatus 100 which moves the base playercharacter of the copy NPC becomes on-line to resume the game. When themaximum number of generatable copy NPCs is not set, however, the upperlimit of the total experience value may be set, so that an excessportion of the experience value may not be added to the experience valueof the player character at the time of resuming the game.

When the maximum number of generatable copy NPCs is not set, the upperlimit of only the number of copy NPCs whose experience values obtainedare added up may be set. For example, in off-line mode, the total of theexperience values of the first ten copy NPCs which have been generatedin the off-line mode may be added to the experience value of the playercharacter when the off-line mode ends and the game is resumed.

Further, a given proportion of the total of the experience values of thecopy NPC in the off-line mode may be added to the experience value ofthe player character when the off-line mode ends to resume the game. Theproportion of the total experience value which is to be added to theexperience value of the player character may be progressively reduced asthe total experience value increases.

The experience values obtained by a plurality of copy NPCs generated inon-line mode may not be added up, but only the experience values of thecopy NPC which has obtained the experience values most among the copyNPCs may be added to the experience value of the player character whenthe on-line mode ends to resume the game.

When only the experience value of a single copy NPC is reflected to theexperience value of the player character when the game is resumed thisway, various parameters of this copy NPC at the time of the log-inprocess may be reflected on the various parameters of the playercharacter when the game is resumed, together with the experience valueor in place thereof. Only a specific parameter among various parametersmay be selectively reflected.

According to the embodiment, an off-line registered player character hasits copy NPC generated by the player character copying operation or thelike by another player, and the copy NPC moves while the registeredplayer character is off-line. However, the network game system accordingto the invention is not limited to this particular case, and the playercharacter itself may be moved when the video game apparatus 100manipulated by the player is off-line.

According to the embodiment, when the video game apparatus 100 isoff-line, a copy NPC gets an experience value in a battle, and its leveldoes not move up even when the experience value becomes a predeterminedexperience value at which the level moves up. However, the level of acopy NPC may be set to move up when the experience value thereof becomesa predetermined experience value at which the level moves up as donewhen the video game apparatus 100 is on-line.

According to the embodiment, battle-relating movements of a copy NPC andan autopilot PC are analyzed and decided based on the latest 100movements of the player character which have been selected by theplayer. The procedures for the analysis and decision may be set asfollows.

The movements of plural types of battles are classified into individualtypes of features of the movements, such as attacks on opponents,attaching spells to opponents, and recovering spells to friends. Theratios of the movement features are acquired by counting the movementsin each of the types of movements (hereinafter referred to as “movementfeature types”) in the latest 100 movements selected by the player, andthe movements of a copy NPC and an autopilot PC may be decided based onthe ratios.

The latest 100 movements may be stored only in the video game apparatus100 as an action log, only counted data on the movement feature typeswhich are acquired through the procedure at the time of registering thecopy NPC may be handed into the server apparatus 200, and the movementof the copy NPC may be decided by the server apparatus 200 based on thedata.

At the time of counting the latest 100 movements, the movements may beweighted based on the timings at which the movements are selected(whether a movement is new or old in the action log), and the movementfeature types may be evaluated based on the weights.

The weighting may be set by, for example, “10” for the latest tenmovements, “9” for the next ten movements, “8” for the next tenmovements, and so forth, and the weight values may be added up for eachmovement feature type. Then, the movements of a copy NPC and anautopilot PC may be decided based on the ratios of the weight values ineach movement feature type to the total weight of the entire movementfeature types. This approach can allow the movements of a copy NPC andan autopilot PC to reflect newer tendencies of movements as themovements selected by the player, so that the movements of the copy NPCand the autopilot PC character can be set closer to the movementsselected by the player.

With regard to the latest 100 movements to be stored in the action log,modes of the tendencies of movements preset in the game may be assignedto the individual player characters based on the ratios acquired in theabove manner according to the movement feature types, and the evaluationthereof. This can reduce the amount of information to be stored in theserver apparatus 200.

Although a method of clearly expressing, to other players, whether aplayer character which is movable as an autopilot PC is an autopilot PCor not, and whether a copy NPC is a copy NPC or not according to theembodiment, the method may be clarified. As one way clarifying themethod, when a player character is moving as an autopilot PC, forexample, a message “moving as an autopilot PC” may be displayed abovethe player character, or moving as an autopilot PC and canceling of theautopilot movement may be declared using a chat capability.

At this time, the control unit 203 of the server apparatus 200 may referto the autopilot flag 405 stored in the player character managementtable 400, the player character may be displayed on the display device121 when the player character is an autopilot PC (ON (1)), andinformation indicating that the player character is moving as anautopilot PC may be included in the server game progress informationwhich is transmitted to a video game apparatus 100 which is manipulatedby another player. The control unit 103 of the video game apparatus 100which has received this server game progress information may displayinformation clarifying that the player character is moving as anautopilot PC on the display device 121.

This approach can make it difficult for other players to misunderstandthat the player is moving the player's own player character while theplayer character is caused to be moving as an autopilot PC so that, forexample, the player may leave the game. Even when players chat eachother in the network game according to the embodiment, chat-basedstatements to a player character whose player is not attending can bereduced.

In case of a copy NPC, to give such a clear expression to other players,indication such as “copy NPC” may be shown above the copy NPC displayedon the display device 121. At this time, the control unit 203 of theserver apparatus 200 likewise includes information indicating that theplayer character is moving as a copy NPC in the server game progressinformation, so that the control unit 103 of the video game apparatus100 which has received the information displays the informationclarifying the movement of the copy NPC on the display device 121. Theplayer character and copy NPC may be provided with distinguishabledisplay effects, such as enhanced contours of the characters, which aredifferent from the display effect of a player character which is movedby a player.

According to the embodiment, the video game apparatus 100 or a dedicatedgame apparatus is used as a device which becomes the platform to play avideo game. According to the invention, however, a general-purposepersonal computer or the like which includes components similar to thoseof the video game apparatus 100 and has a network connecting capabilitymay be constructed a platform. A portable game apparatus (including acellular phone having a capability of running applications) which isconfigured to have the display device 121 and the sound output device125 accommodated in the same casing as the casing of the main body 101.

A semiconductor memory card may be adopted as the recording medium 131in place of a DVD-ROM or CD-ROM. A card slot where the memory card isinserted may be provided in placed of the DVD/CD-ROM drive 113. In caseof a general-purpose personal computer, the program and data accordingto the invention may be provided in the form of being prestored on theHDD 107, not stored in the recording medium 131. Any recording mediummay be optionally used to store and provide the program and dataaccording to the invention according to the physical form of thehardware and the distribution form.

According to the embodiment, the program and data for the video gameapparatus 100 are stored in the recording medium 131 for distribution.Instead, the program and data may be stored on a fixed disk apparatusincluded in the server apparatus located on a network, and distributedto the main body 101 via the network 151. The video game apparatus 100can save the program and data, received at the communication interface115 from the server apparatus 200, in the HDD 107, and load them intothe RAM 105 at the time the program is run. The program and data whichare used in the server apparatus 200 may be stored on a fixed diskapparatus included in another server apparatus located on a network, anddistributed to the main body 201 via the network 151.

1. A network game system including a server apparatus, and a pluralityof terminal apparatuses connected to the server apparatus over anetwork, wherein each of players who respectively use the terminalapparatuses manipulates a player's own player character to participatein a game provided by the server apparatus, the server apparatuscomprising: a character movement information receiver that receivescharacter movement information transmitted from each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses; a character movement state updating unit thatupdates a movement state of a player character corresponding to each ofthe plurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit provided in the server apparatus according to the charactermovement information received by the character movement informationreceiver; and a game progress information transmitter that transmits, toeach of the plurality of terminal apparatuses, game progress informationindicating a progress state of the game according to the movement stateof the player character corresponding to the each terminal apparatus andstored in the movement state storage unit, each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses comprising: a game progress information receiverthat receives the game progress information transmitted from the gameprogress information transmitter; a game screen display that generates ascreen according to the game progress information received by the gameprogress information receiver, and displays the screen on a displaydevice equipped in the terminal apparatus; a manual movement instructioninput unit that, as the player who uses the terminal apparatus performsa predetermined operation on an input device equipped in the terminalapparatus, inputs a manual movement instruction for moving the player'sown player character; a manual movement specifying unit that specifies amovement of the player character of the player using the terminalapparatus according to the manual movement instruction input from manualmovement instruction input unit; an automatic movement instruction inputunit that, as the player who uses the terminal apparatus performs aspecific operation different from the predetermined operation on theinput device, inputs an automatic movement instruction for moving theplayer's own player character regardless of the input of the manualmovement instruction; an automatic movement specifying unit thatspecifies a movement of the player character of the player using theterminal apparatus based on the game progress information received bythe game progress information receiver, regardless of the input of themanual movement instruction, until canceling of the automatic movementinstruction since the input of the automatic movement instruction fromthe automatic movement instruction input unit; and a character movementinformation transmitter that generates the character movementinformation according to the movement of the player character of theplayer specified by the manual movement specifying unit or the automaticmovement specifying unit, and transmits the character movementinformation to the server apparatus to be received by the charactermovement information receiver.
 2. The network game system according toclaim 1, wherein each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses furtherincludes a history storage unit that stores a history of the manualmovement instruction input from the manual movement instruction inputunit and/or a history of the movement of the player character specifiedby the manual movement specifying unit, and the automatic movementspecifying unit specifies the movement of the player character of theplayer using the terminal apparatus based on the game progressinformation received by the game progress information receiver and thehistory of the manual movement instruction and/or the history of themovement stored in the history storage unit.
 3. The network game systemaccording to claim 2, wherein the automatic movement specifying unitincreases a weight of a newer history among the histories of themovement states stored in the history storage unit to specify themovement of the player character of the player using the terminalapparatus.
 4. The network game system according to claim 1, wherein eachof the plurality of terminal apparatuses further includes: a manualbreakaway information transmitter that, when the player using theterminal apparatus inputs a breakaway instruction by performing aspecial operation different from the predetermined operation or thespecific operation on the input device equipped in the terminalapparatus, transmits manual breakaway information for instructingbreakaway from the game in which the player using the terminal apparatushas participated by the manipulation of the player's own playercharacter; a no-input time determining unit that determines whether astate where a time of duration in which no input is made to the inputdevice equipped in the terminal apparatus continues has reached apredetermined time; and an automatic breakaway information transmitterthat transmits the breakaway information when the no-input timedetermining unit determines that time of duration has reached thepredetermined time, and the server apparatus further includes abreakaway information receiver that receives the breakaway informationtransmitted from the manual breakaway information transmitter or theautomatic breakaway information transmitter, and causes the player usingthe terminal apparatus to break away from the game in which the playerusing the terminal apparatus has participated by the manipulation of theplayer's own player character.
 5. The network game system according toclaim 4, wherein the server apparatus further includes a continuousoperation specifying unit that specifies the movement of the playercharacter of the player based on the movement state of the playercharacter of the player who has broken away from the game based on thebreakaway information stored in the movement state storage unit afterreceiving the breakaway information transmitted from the automaticbreakaway information transmitter by the breakaway information receiver,and the character movement state updating unit updates the movementstate of the player character stored in the movement state storage unitaccording to the movement of the player character specified by thecontinuous operation specifying unit.
 6. The network game systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the automatic movement instruction iscanceled when a predetermined cancel operation in operations on theinput device is performed.
 7. The network game system according to claim1, wherein the automatic movement instruction is canceled when anyoperation performable on the input device by the player is performed. 8.The network game system according to claim 1, wherein the game progressinformation transmitter transmits the game progress informationincluding automatic movement information indicating that the playercharacter is one whose movement is specified by the automatic movementspecifying unit, and the game screen display displays the playercharacter being one whose movement is specified by the automaticmovement specifying unit on the display device based on the automaticmovement information included in the game progress information.
 9. Anetwork game system including a server apparatus, and a plurality ofterminal apparatuses connected to the server apparatus over a network,wherein each of players who respectively use the terminal apparatusesmanipulates a player's own player character to participate in a gameprovided by the server apparatus, the server apparatus comprising: acharacter movement information receiver that receives character movementinformation transmitted from each of the plurality of terminalapparatuses; a first character movement state updating unit that updatesa movement state of a player character corresponding to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit provided in the server apparatus according to the charactermovement information received by the character movement informationreceiver; an automatic movement instruction receiver that receives anautomatic movement instruction transmitted from each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses; an automatic movement specifying unit thatspecifies a movement of the player character of the player using aterminal apparatus corresponding to the automatic movement instructionbased on the movement state of the player character stored in themovement state storage unit, regardless of the reception of thecharacter movement information by the character movement informationreceiver, until canceling of the automatic movement instruction sincethe reception of the automatic movement instruction by the automaticmovement instruction receiver; a second character movement stateupdating unit that updates a movement state of a player charactercorresponding to each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses stored ina movement state storage unit according to the movement of the playercharacter specified by the automatic movement specifying unit; and agame progress information transmitter that transmits, to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses, game progress information indicatinga progress state of the game according to the movement state of theplayer character corresponding to the each terminal apparatus and storedin the movement state storage unit, each of the plurality of terminalapparatuses comprising: a game progress information receiver thatreceives the game progress information transmitted from the gameprogress information transmitter; a game screen display that generates ascreen according to the game progress information received by the gameprogress information receiver, and displays the screen on a displaydevice equipped in the terminal apparatus; a manual movement instructioninput unit that, as the player who uses the terminal apparatus performsa predetermined operation on an input device equipped in the terminalapparatus, inputs a manual movement instruction for moving the player'sown player character; a manual movement specifying unit that specifies amovement of the player character of the player using the terminalapparatus according to the manual movement instruction input from manualmovement instruction input unit; an automatic movement instruction inputunit that, as the player who uses the terminal apparatus performs aspecific operation different from the predetermined operation on theinput device, inputs an automatic movement instruction for moving theplayer's own player character regardless of the input of the manualmovement instruction; and an automatic movement instruction transmitterthat transmits the automatic movement instruction input from theautomatic movement instruction input unit to the server apparatus to bereceived by the automatic movement instruction receiver.
 10. The networkgame system according to claim 9, wherein the server apparatus furtherincludes a history storage unit that stores a history of the movementstate of the player character corresponding to each of the plurality ofterminal apparatuses, and the automatic movement specifying unitspecifies the movement of the player character of the player using theterminal apparatus based on the movement state of the player charactercorresponding to each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses stored inthe movement state storage unit, and the history of the movement statestored in the history storage unit.
 11. The network game systemaccording to claim 10, wherein the automatic movement specifying unitincreases a weight of a newer history among the histories of themovement states stored in the history storage unit to specify themovement of the player character of the player using the terminalapparatus.
 12. The network game system according to claim 9, wherein theautomatic movement instruction is canceled when a predetermined canceloperation in operations on the input device is performed.
 13. Thenetwork game system according to claim 9, wherein the automatic movementinstruction is canceled when any operation performable on the inputdevice by the player is performed.
 14. The network game system accordingto claim 9, wherein the game progress information transmitter transmitsthe game progress information including automatic movement informationindicating that the player character is one whose movement is specifiedby the automatic movement specifying unit, and the game screen displaydisplays the player character being one whose movement is specified bythe automatic movement specifying unit on the display device based onthe automatic movement information included in the game progressinformation.
 15. A game apparatus connected over a network to a serverapparatus providing a game which progresses with a plurality of playersmanipulating player characters thereof to manipulate the playercharacters of the players, the game apparatus comprising: an inputdevice; a display device; a game progress information receiver thatreceives game progress information transmitted from the server apparatusand indicating a progress state of the game according to a state ofmovement of the player character corresponding to each of the pluralityof players; a game screen display that generates a screen according tothe game progress information received by the game progress informationreceiver, and displays the screen on the display device of the gameapparatus; a manual movement instruction input that, as the player whouses the game apparatus performs a predetermined operation on the inputdevice of the game apparatus, inputs a manual movement instruction formoving the player's own player character; a manual movement specifyingunit that specifies a movement of the player's own player characteraccording to the manual movement instruction input from manual movementinstruction input unit; an automatic movement instruction input unitthat, as the player who uses the game apparatus performs a specificoperation different from the predetermined operation on the input deviceof the game apparatus, inputs an automatic movement instruction formoving the player's own player character regardless of the input of themanual movement instruction; an automatic movement specifying unit thatspecifies a movement of the player's own player character based on thegame progress information received by the game progress informationreceiver, regardless of the input of the manual movement instruction,until canceling of the automatic movement instruction since the input ofthe automatic movement instruction from the automatic movementinstruction input unit; and a character movement information transmitterthat generates character movement information for the server apparatusto generate the game progress information, according to the movement ofthe player character of the player using the game apparatus which isspecified by the manual movement specifying unit, and transmits thegenerated character movement information to the server apparatus.
 16. Aserver apparatus connected to a plurality of terminal apparatuses over anetwork, and providing a game in which players respectively using theterminal apparatuses participate by manipulation of player characters ofthe players, the server apparatus comprising: a character movementinformation receiver that receives character movement informationtransmitted from each of the plurality of terminal apparatuses; a firstcharacter movement state updating unit that updates a movement state ofa player character corresponding to each of the plurality of terminalapparatuses stored in a movement state storage unit provided in theserver apparatus according to the character movement informationreceived by the character movement information receiver; an automaticmovement instruction receiver that receives an automatic movementinstruction input by each player in one of the plurality of terminalapparatuses; an automatic movement specifying unit that specifies amovement of the player character of the player using a terminalapparatus corresponding to the automatic movement instruction based onthe movement state of the player character stored in the movement statestorage unit, regardless of the reception of the character movementinformation by the character movement information receiver, untilcanceling of the automatic movement instruction since the reception ofthe automatic movement instruction by the automatic movement instructionreceiver; a second character movement state updating unit that updates amovement state of a player character corresponding to each of theplurality of terminal apparatuses stored in a movement state storageunit according to the movement of the player character specified by theautomatic movement specifying unit; and a game progress informationtransmitter that transmits, to each of the plurality of terminalapparatuses, game progress information indicating a progress state ofthe game according to the movement state of the player charactercorresponding to the each terminal apparatus and stored in the movementstate storage unit.
 17. A computer readable recording medium recording aprogram which is executed by a computer connected over a network to aserver apparatus providing a game which progresses with a plurality ofplayers manipulating player characters thereof to manipulate the playercharacters of the players, the program allowing the computer to functionas: a game progress information receiver that receives game progressinformation transmitted from the ser Ter apparatus and indicating aprogress state of the game according to a state of movement of theplayer character corresponding to each of the plurality of players; agame screen display that generates a screen according to the gameprogress information received by the game progress information receiver,and displays the screen on a display device equipped in the computer; amanual movement instruction input unit that, as the player performs apredetermined operation on an input device equipped in the computer,inputs a manual movement instruction for moving the player's own playercharacter; a manual movement specifying unit that specifies a movementof the player character of the player using the terminal apparatusaccording to the manual movement instruction input from manual movementinstruction input unit; an automatic movement instruction input unitthat, as the player performs a specific operation different from thepredetermined operation on an input device equipped in the gameapparatus, inputs an automatic movement instruction for moving theplayer's own player character regardless of the input of the manualmovement instruction; an automatic movement specifying unit thatspecifies a movement of the player character of the player using theterminal apparatus based on the game progress information received bythe game progress information receiver, regardless of the input of themanual movement instruction, until canceling of the automatic movementinstruction since the input of the automatic movement instruction fromthe automatic movement instruction input unit; and a character movementinformation transmitter that generates character movement informationfor the server apparatus to generate the game progress information,according to the movement of the player character of the playerspecified by the manual movement specifying unit, and transmits thegenerated character movement information to the server apparatus.